Man Seeking Suicide Help Dies At Home

Attorneys Now Debating If His Lawuit Will Stand

After suffering for two years with terminal bone cancer, Eric Straumanis turned to the courts last week to win the right to have his doctor assist him in suicide.

But on Wednesday, before having his first court hearing, Straumanis, 57, succumbed to the illness at his Bartow home, his wife by his side, said Robert Rivas, his attorney.

The question now is: Does Straumanis' lawsuit still have any legal standing?

"I'm really not sure yet if I'm going to be able to get a decision on the law," Rivas said.

Straumanis and his doctor, Cecil McIver of Jupiter, filed a lawsuit on Dec. 27 in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, arguing their rights to privacy, as guaranteed by the U.S. and Florida constitutions, are violated by a state law that makes assisted suicide a second-degree felony.

The Florida Privacy Act guarantees that Floridians should be free of undue government interference in their lives, the lawsuit said.

The Florida Supreme Court has upheld the Privacy Act in cases involving removing someone from life support, protecting an individual's right to an abortion and protecting a Johavah's Witness' right to refuse a blood transfusion.

Straumanis, who holds a doctoral degree in philosophy and has been a college professor and administrator, was diagnosed with the fast-spreading bone cancer in 1993. Two weeks ago, his doctors had discontinued all treatment other than pain management.

What Straumanis wanted from the courts was the option, if the pain became unbearable, to end his life with the help of his doctor without interference by the state.

Rivas said on Wednesday he's looking at a way to keep the lawsuit alive and have the issue decided by the courts.

One possibility, he said, is amending the lawsuit to seek "nominal damages" for Straumanis and McIver for violation of their civil rights.

But, Rivas said, the 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution could be a stumbling block.

The 11th Amendment stipulates that state and federal governments are immune from being sued for damages for civil rights violations.

The lawsuit names Polk County State Attorney Jerry Hill and members of the state's Board of Medicine as defendants. Both are agents of the state government, Rivas said.

Rivas said he will look for an exception to the 11th Amendment immunity.

Another option, Rivas said, is to have the Hemlock Society of Florida, a group formed in 1994 to advocate laws allowing assisted suicide for terminally ill patients, find another doctor and patient who are willing to take the battle into court by means of another lawsuit.

John Lees, legal director for the Hemlock Society of Florida, said that's a good possibility.

"We have several other cases where people have come to us and said, `I want to do this ... I want to be an activist, use my case," Lees said.

Deputy Attorney General Pete Antonacci, who was scheduled along with Rivas to appear today in Palm Beach County Circuit Court so that Rivas could request an emergency hearing, said on Wednesday he thinks the case has ended.

"In our view, the case is moot. There's no plaintiff," Antonacci said. "If they have a legal theory to go ahead with, then we'll take a look at it."

Antonacci would not be surprised if another terminally ill patient files a similar suit to overturn the state's assisted suicide law if Rivas' attempts to continue the lawsuit are unsuccessful.

"I've been told there are other individuals who are interested in this," he said.